The notion of registration does not exist in copyright law, as for example in the industrial property law. The rights arising from copyright law begin to exist once the work is created and assumes a specific form. Therefore, no formal procedure is necessary on the part of the author - e.g. the submission of the work to a public institution, its registration to a special registry, the payment of a specific fee, etc. - in order for him to be able to exercise his author’s rights. The obligation to submit all kinds of printed documents to the National Library (art. 1 para. 6a of Law 2557/1997) does in no way constitute copyright “protection”, as it mainly serves the purpose of supporting and collecting the cultural heritage. Furthermore, the inclusion of the © sign in copyright material does not play any part in the origination of the right and it neither adds nor removes anything as far as copyright issues are concerned.
However, for the purpose of securing the author and having a proof of authorship, in effect there are two practices that are usually followed: The first one is the submission of the intellectual creation before a notary. The second practice followed is to send a registered letter, having both as sender and addressee the author himself or another addressee, retain the receipt and maintain the letter, which will include the work, unopened until and if a difference arises regarding the specific work, in which case the letter will be opened before the court by a judge, who will certify its content.
Both practices act as proof and serve as disputable evidence (which means that they can be counter-evidenced) for the fact that, at the particular point in time, the work had already been created by the author, and they can be used if a problem arises and a third party claims ownership of the author’s work. Both practices are not regulated by the copyright law (Law 2121/1993), but they are simple, common procedures that can be used to certify the document’s date. It is in the judge’s discretion to evaluate the probative value of these actions. If none of the aforementioned actions has been taken by the author, he can refer to any other piece of evidence that might exist in accordance with the general rules of the Civil Procedure Code, in order to prove his authorship.
In accordance with the existing legal framework, the Hellenic Copyright Organization shall not in any way contribute to this procedure of securing the author.
